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Focus: Going for gold

Irish business is poised to join a race for Olympic profits, report Colm Murphy and Dominic OConnell

Sean Mulryan and Dermot Desmond are sports fanatics. The Irish duo, however, had more reason than most to cheer last week when London was nominated as host city for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The multimillionaires are among the biggest land owners in the area of London that will host the Games, making them some of the biggest beneficiaries.

While neither own land on the planned 500-acre Olympic park, the road and rail infrastructure that is planned to service it will add millions to the value of their east London assets.

The €1m that Mulryan spent sponsoring London’s Olympic bid looks to be one of his most prudent investments.

Mulryan, 50, through his Ballymore Properties, owns thousands of acres in London’s East End for residential and commercial development, while Desmond’s London City airport is close to the planned Olympic village. The British public’s estimated £2.4 billion (€3.5 billion) investment in running